The data in the JPEG and RAW columns in the table below was derived by timing how long it took the Nikon D700 to write
23 JPEG Fine and then
15 NEF photos to the memory card. Timing commenced when the camera's card status light illuminated, and stopped when the light went out. Each test cycle was performed three times (if the card's capacity allowed for that) to ensure accurate results. The data has been converted to megabytes-per-second (MB/s). Higher numbers are better.

The figure in the Burst column represents how many NEF + JPEG pictures the camera was able to take in 30 seconds. Higher numbers are better, and a relatively small difference in the number of frames captured translates to a noticeable difference in how much faster one card feels than another, when shooting frequent extended bursts.

Prior to both JPEG and RAW testing, all cards were first secure erased on a computer, then formatted in the camera. The same test scene was photographed, under the same illumination, for all tests. The identical camera settings and lens were also used throughout.

All RAW testing was done with the camera set to shoot 14-bit Uncompressed NEFs at the D700's full resolution. When shooting JPEGs, the camera was set to Optimal Quality. We also tried different combinations of Compressed NEF, Lossless Compressed NEF and Size Priority JPEGs, to see if the camera's write speed changed appreciably. In all cases, we found that overall write speed dropped slightly from what you see in the table, but the cards' relative performance remained about the same.

The D700 has one CompactFlash Type I card slot.Interpreting the results The data can be sorted by manufacturer, card type, rated capacity, file format and 30-second burst, in both ascending and descending order, by clicking on the appropriate column header. When sorting by JPEG or RAW, the fastest 10% for that format are highlighted in blue. You can view extra information for a card by clicking the icon to the left of the card's name, or for all cards at once by clicking
Show Extra Info in the Memory Card header field. All calculations are based on 1 megabyte = 1,048,576 bytes. The word
Error in a results field means the card was not able to complete the test and is most likely incompatible with the camera.